Chapitre 51: MEET TEAM ZERO
"Alright, time to announce your new postings," said Franz, flipping to the next page. "Artemis 1!"
Aya snapped into attention.
"Team Phantom. Commander!"said Franz.
"Yes Sir!"saluted Aya.
"Artemis 2! Team Zero. Sniper..."continued Franz.
(20 minutes later)
"…Artemis 13! Team Phantom, Machine gunner!" finished Franz.
The now defunct Squad Artemis' new postings are as followed:
Aya, Walter and Atsumi are assigned to Team Phantom, serving as Commander, Radio operator and Machine gunner respectively.
Frederica, Nanami and Sean are assigned to Team Zero, serving as Sniper, Second in Command and Observer respectively.
Meari, Cameron and Liu Zhong are assigned to Team Raptor, serving as Observer, Sniper and Machine gunner respectively.
Ethan, Maia and Electra are assigned to Team Ion, serving as Medic, Second in Command and Ordnance expert respectively.
Vasily retained his role as one of the Squad leaders of Gold Squadron.
Afterwards, their dormitories are changed to adjust to the new units. Team Zero are given the 4th floor, which Squad Artemis formerly took as their floor. Hence, those assigned to the new units moved out to the other floors.
Maia sighed, looking at their empty rooms.
"Why so serious, guys?" laughed Aya. "We are still in the same dorm, just different floors now. Training times are the same anyway, we all still can meet up!"
Those moving out nodded, getting on their way to the other floors.
(1 hour later)
The 13 of them headed to the front door, welcoming their new teammates moving in.
Buses stopped outside, carrying operators from all over the world.
A bus stopped in front of Sean. He is surprised to see a familiar Draco and a Lita stepping out, dressed in space camouflage and carrying their gear.
"Ariel, Louis!" he exclaimed, waving at them. He is glad to see that they have the shoulder patches of Team Zero, meaning that they will be in the same squad from now on.
"Nice to see you 2 again," he laughed, fist pumping with the 2. He then called Frederica over, introducing her to them.
"My partner, Frederica, you can call her Freddie, she is our sniper," he smiled.
Frederica saluted them. Ariel and Louis returned the salute.
"Pleased to meet you," smiled Ariel. "I am Ariel Wagner, I will be the breacher."
"I am Louis Fletcher, I am the radio operator," Louis is careful to give Frederica the most proper salute he can give, since she outranks him.
Ariel is not so stringent in this regard, as she and Frederica have the same rank.
"Oi!" said a figure to Sean's left. Sean turned, seeing a familiar Chinese man in spectacles walking towards him, arms outstretched. He too has the Team Zero shoulder patch on his uniform, with a low visibility cross denoting a medic below.
"Phineas Wang?!" exclaimed Sean, surprised, hugging his friend.
"I passed the human Tier 1 selection course! Surprising right?" joked Phineas.
"The Doctor is now a medic, feels like a downgrading for some reason..." mused Sean. He then whispered into Phineas' ears, darting his eyes at Ariel trying to start a conversation with Frederica at one corner.
"Is it because you want to be with her—ow!" a flustered Phineas hit Sean in the shoulder.
"WANG SIR!" greeted Vasily, coming over. "Want an apple?" he offered, taking one from his lunchbox.
Phineas chuckled. "So do you want to see me or not?"
"An apple a day keeps doctors at bay," said a female voice in Russian.
Vera Makarova and Albert Cheung greeted and fist bumped them. Vera chatted with Vasily in Russian briefly. The pair has been assigned as the sniper duo of Team Phantom, placing them under Aya's care.
"Things to take note of, she is a big hugger!" slandered Sean.
"GUYS!" exclaimed a familiar voice. The 5 from the cadet group all turned to the Draco running over to them, surprised to see her here.
"CLARA PARK?!" exclaimed Vera in both surprise and happiness. Their friend is wearing the iconic purple jacket of Amethyst Detachment.
Clara accidentally tripped herself owing to her still lack of familiarity with her cybernetic left foot, falling into Sean's arms who had moved to catch her. She subconsciously hugged him.
"Sorry," she apologised, blushing slightly and fidgeting. "You aren't hurt anywhere right?" she asked, looking around Sean.
Seeing their interaction, Frederica's right fist clenched into a ball, nerves sticking out. Her expression remained poker-faced nonetheless.
Xiao Tian shook hands with Xu Qing, who is their engineer and drone operator now.
Then, one last bus stopped in front of the camp.
"From the Americas," thought Sean, looking at the words written on the monitor.
3 human men wearing the USA flag shoulder patch stepped off, heading towards the sign that read Team Zero.
The lead man is a Hispanic American, the other 2 are an African-American and a white man respectively.
"Hermano!" greeted the hispanic man, saluting Xiao Tian. "Lieutenant Santos Flynn reporting for duty!"
"Lieutenant James Rogers, reporting for duty!" saluted the black man.
"Lieutenant Jay Kowlaski, reporting for duty!" saluted the last man.
"You got the balls hermano," joked Santos at Xiao Tian, "taking the Delta trio at one go, you have no idea how painful our old Task Force leader felt."
Santos, James and Jay all belonged to US Army's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta before they joined UNSSD. As the 3 are extremely proficient in their jobs and had somehow always been posted to the same units during their UNSSD career, they are hence nicknamed the "Delta trio".
"You talk big for someone that got 1 for 1ed by a cadet," mused Sean, referring to how Eddie took out Santos during their final test in Antarctica.
"Man, I love this one!" said James, wrapping an arm around Sean, commending Sean for his snarky mannerism.
"Touche," smiled Santos.
(30 minutes later)
"Alright!" exclaimed Jay. "Team Zero all settled in!"
Xiao Tian cleared his throat. "Orders!" he began.
Everyone snapped into attention, only for the next words from the commander of Team Zero to cause all of them to almost faint.
"HOLIDAY TIME!" laughed Xiao Tian. "You all have 1 week to go and relax before we start training and missions proper."
"4 rules to follow though. Firstly, don't break military discipline and Japanese laws. Secondly, you are to remain in the greater Tokyo area. Thirdly, you are not allowed to return to base unless ordered to. Fourthly, bring a main weapon and a sidearm!" he said.
"Other than that, feel free to do whatever you want!" he smiled.
Everyone is stunned. Nanami too is stunned. Even though she is the second in command, Xiao Tian had not told her a word.
Sean, Ariel and Louis got PTSD from their cadet days. It feels too similar in style to the nasty tricks pulled off by the instructors.
"What are you all waiting for? Change out of your uniforms and go pack for a one week trip!" exclaimed Xiao Tian incredulously.
"Sir," squeezed out Sean, breaking the long silence. "What are your plans then."
Xiao Tian grinned, putting on a headband.
"I am going to cheer for Maki-Chan!" he proclaimed, referring to a popular J-idol.
"And I am going too!" declared Aya who had suddenly popped out. She too is wearing fan accessories.
"Team Phantom is on holiday too?" asked Sean.
Aya nodded, saying that it is for all Task Force Prime personnel.
The members of Team Zero looked at each other, then they all left to get ready, murmuring excitedly what they are going to do over this week.
Once Xiao Tian and Aya are left alone, Aya's expression turned serious.
"How good is the intel?" she asked.
"For the Tokyo police to notify us and label it as beyond urgent, I would trust it," replied Xiao Tian.
"Turning a possible terrorist attack into both an excuse for a holiday and orientation is so you," mused Aya.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone